Regain What Was Lost
by AndromedaAI
Summary: She couldn't feel them anymore, and that worried her. Were they too far away, or were they dead? When she and her team had to leave Cybertron, she wondered if they would ever meet again. Fate seemed to be in her favour, because one organic planet lightyears from home might just bring them back to her. After all, they're her twin brothers.
1. Alligator Sky

**Yeah "Adaption" ultimately crashed and I've decided to replace it with this! I might go back to "Adaption"s idea in the future, but not now.**

**I hope you like this idea :)**

**Disclaimer: I own Notestryder, Quick Raid, the youngling and the sparklings. Necessary crew members, I assure you. I do not own the others. And I do not own Transformers.**

**(Note: this chapter is titled "Alligator Sky" because I thought the song "Alligator Sky" by Owl City sorta suits it. :/ Don't know if you see it the same way.)**

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**Regain What Was Lost**

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1 – **Alligator Sky** – 1

Her crimson optics widened in surprise as an explosion threw her up against the outer wall of Autobot Base Alpha 22.09. Her white armor, which used to have black accents, was now scuffed to a point where she couldn't tell what were scuffs and what were accents of her armor.

She got to her pedes and surveyed the Decepticons quickly surrounding her. This war had been long and taxing, and yet the Decepticons didn't seem to be as exhausted as her fellow Autobots felt. They hadn't heard a crackle from either Optimus or Megatron, so why did the "Peace through Tyranny" supporters push on? What if Megatron was offline? Starscream would take his place, but then, what if he was offline as well?

Shaking her helm, she cleared it of all those confusing questions and focused on the mechs that had now formed a tight semi-circle around her, pinning her to the wall with only a few feet separating them from her. She tried to keep the fear from being seen in her optics, but she knew they could see it. She wasn't the brave one of the family, her older brothers were. But they weren't here. She had been a simple data-track jockey back before the war, and had not possessed any fighting skills whatsoever until they had taught her. Now she had the fighting skills, but her bravery wasn't up to par.

_But_, she couldn't afford to be scared at that moment. There were precious little lives within the base that had big bright futures ahead of them, so she couldn't allow them to fall into the claws of evil.

Her blades slid down from their sheaths on the tops of her wrists with an almost dangerous _shing_. She hadn't had many chances to use them since the war started and since she had spent most of her time avoiding the war. She had hid, she had surrendered herself to the Youth Sectors, she had done everything to keep herself out of the war and safe so that her brothers could return and still have someone there for them. But when the Youth Sectors had been attacked, she had fought.

She had always had a soft spot for sparklings and younglings. So when the Decepticons had come bursting into the haven that the Youth Sector she had been staying had become, something in her had snapped. She might have had red optics, and the other bots might have looked at her warily from time to time because of them, but the sparklings and younglings looked up to her as she managed to keep the Decepticons at bay long enough for the creations to make a getaway. But not all of them had managed to escape.

After she had been knocked back and forced into stasis, she woke up to see the corpse of a femme with a dead sparkling in her arms lying right beside her.

That kept haunting her, reminding her that she was not good enough to protect _everyone_.

She raised her blades up; looking at how they shined in the light of Cybertron's dying sun. They somehow instilled something in her that gave her enough courage to lift her helm and look the closest Decepticon in the eye. Then she pounced.

She slashed at that Decepticon's throat and cleaved his helm from his shoulders. She leapt to the side in order to dodge another Decepticon's attack and ran at him as he tried to recover. Both of her blades went through his spark, extinguishing it instantly. She jumped backwards in order to pull her blades from the dead Decepticon as another swung his mace at her. Her cooling systems were working double-time and were starting to hitch slightly. She swung a blade at the Decepticon with the mace, and cleaved the arm holding the mace from its shoulder. She then picked up the mace as smashed it into the side of the Decepticon's helm, ending its howling and flailing instantly.

_Without their generals and their commanders, they have grown weak,_ she realized._ But there are still too many of them to risk thinking lightly of them._

**::Notestryder, you must return to base. There are too many of them! That goes for you too, Hound, Firestar, and Warpath,::** the leader of the rag-tag band of Autobots said.

**::Yes sir!:: – Notestryder, Hound, Firestar, Warpath**

She managed to dodge attacks from the remaining two Decepticons that had cornered her, and made a mad dash towards one of the many hidden entrances that lead into the base. _So he's planning on taking off then?_ she wondered. _Well…hopefully we can get off the surface…_

Their base was really a ship encased in a box of metal. It was done so that they would have a better chance of surviving this war. It was done like that so that in times like this, they'd be able to get off Cybertron as fast as possible, without having to wait for anyone to board.

Notestryder dropped the mace before she ducked into a small tunnel that lead to one of the entrances. It was too cumbersome even though she really wanted to use it as a start for a collection of Decepticon weapons. But she'd have to wait and settle on the weapons she had—namely her blades, blasters, and Energon whips.

She made it to the entrance with no sound of pursuit and quickly typed in the code. The door whooshed open and she entered. It slammed down behind her as she made her way up to the bridge of the ship where she met up with the others and the leader of their band, Prowl, second in command to the Autobot army.

She quickly saluted out of respect to the high-ranking mech.

He nodded in her direction before he began roll-call over the public comm. **::All presently on the ship: mechs, femmes, sires, carriers, younglings, sparklings, and any resident pranksters—say "Here!" when I call your designation.::**

Notestryder couldn't help but snicker when Prowl had said 'any resident pranksters'. Yep, that was her. It was something she had gotten from her brothers. Those rascals.

**::Hound.:: – Prowl **

**::Here!:: – Hound**

**::Quick Raid.:: – Prowl**

**::Here!:: – Quick Raid**

**::Warpath.:: – Prowl**

**::Here!:: – Warpath**

**::Firestar:: – Prowl**

**::Here!:: – Firestar**

**::Minerva.:: – Prowl**

**::Here.:: – Minerva**

**::…Notestryder.:: – Prowl**

**::Here as always, sir!:: – Notestryder**

She watched as the SiC fought the urge to roll his optics at her call.

**::Alright: younglings and sparklings. Sparklings: Wrangler, Code Red, and Clutch—say 'here.':: – Prowl**

The three 'here's, which were said in tandem, made Notestryder smile. She loved the sparklings and were glad that Minerva, their medic, had installed communicators in their little helms. It helped keep an optic on them.

**::And our youngling: Skybeat?:: – Prowl**

**::Here! I'm in my quarters.:: – Skybeat**

The public comm. was switched off and the SiC allowed a small smile. "Good, everyone's on board. Quick Raid, if you would take us up?" Prowl looked at the light blue femme in particular and she nodded. She went to the controls and sat down in the pilot's seat. Notestryder watched in curiosity as the femme quickly flipped switches and pulled levers, and soon the engines started up and thrummed loudly.

She didn't expect take off to be so rough, so she was knocked off balance when the ship lurched into the air. The roof that had covered and concealed the ship from prying Decepticon optics squealed sharply as it crumbled to pieces while the ship rose up through it. Notestryder winced at the sound, but having still been used to loud noises from her days as a data-track jockey (some of those songs could get _really_ loud), she wasn't affected by it as much as Quick Raid was, since she was more a technical officer than a field agent.

She rubbed her right audio as the ship continued to rise into the air. "Ow. I didn't expect it to be so _loud_," she said.

Notestryder walked up to her and patted her right shoulder. "Don't lose your hearing now, femme. You still need to hear your sparkmate and sparkling!" she teased.

Quick Raid quickly flipped a few more switches, and the ship launched forward, rocketing away from the surface of Cybertron, and up towards the stars.

Notestryder crossed her arms and looked at the others that stood around the bridge. They glanced at each other sadly as Cybertron got farther and farther away. Through the nearest viewport, Notestryder watched as Cybertron got smaller and smaller as well.

"I'm gonna miss Cybertron," Firestar sighed.

"We just have to hope that someday we'll be able to return," Prowl told her. "But for now, we just have to avoid Decepticon ambushes and hope we get a transmission from our Prime."

There nods all around and a few "yeah"s. Notestryder continued to watch as Cybertron disappeared from view. She rubbed her chest, just over her spark chamber, as homesickness threatened to sink in. _You two better not be still on Cybertron,_ she thought, thinking of her brothers,_ because if you are, I'll kick your afts to the Well of AllSparks when I get back_

* * *

Notestryder couldn't help but think about the two dead bond nodes that rested on her spark. Minerva didn't say that they had broken, they were still there, but they were dead. She couldn't help but think about her brothers though. Were they dead and were just too far away for her spark to realize? Or were they just too far away for her spark to pick up?

Why did they leave her and not take her with them?

She knew they loved her. They loved her dearly, actually. When she was little, and she had a nightmare, they would always allow her to sleep with them. Her big, strong, older brothers, who had been in their adult frames for as long as she could remember, took care of her and loved her and allowed her to touch their paint. They had shared red optics up until a few orns after the war had started, but the last time she had seen them, they had just changed their optic colour to blue.

She got up and looked at herself in the small-ish mirror that hung at the end of her berth. Her red optics looked at her worriedly—not looking harsh or angry or evil like the ones the Decepticons bore. That's what made her different, Skybeat had once told her. Her optics might have been the same colour as the Decepticons', but they looked different somehow.

As the war progressed, she had heard about them. They were the Autobots' _frontliners_, some of their strongest most skilled warriors. They were _warriors_ not just soldiers. Notestryder looked up to them, though they probably never thought about how she could more than she already _had_, and studied their every move and how they fought Decepticons. But she was never going to be as ferocious as they were—she'd never be able to _lose_ herself in a battle like they could until there wasn't a single Decepticon left on the battlefield.

Maybe that's why she had been in the data-jockey caste and had not become a gladiator like they had.

She smiled. They used to always admire how soft her spark was.

Notestryder sat down and began to clean her blasters slowly as she thought back to way before the war, back to when her creators were still online. Her danniluk had been a beautiful femme, with white optics and silver armor. Her opiluk had been a handsome mech with red optics and black armor. She had had a happy life, even though most bots outside of Kaon rejected her, her brothers, and her opi because of their optics. Pompous bots from the pompous upper castes.

But some liked them, especially the femmes looking for handsome mechs. Her brothers had been pretty handsome, and her grumpier brother had attracted a lot of attention when he decided to start selling his paintings.

Danni had been a data-track jockey for the Wildatron club in Helix, along with some mech named Blaster (who later became the Autobot Communications Officer when the war started). Her opi had been a guide for out-of-towners that had come to watch a gladiator match. Both had died when a mech broke into their housing unit.

Notestryder shuttered and closed her optics as the memory was brought up.

…

_Youngling Notestryder sat at the table sitting at the edge of the living room. She was quickly colouring a picture of their family that her brother had drawn for her. As she finished her danni's armor, she put the silver airbrush down and picked up a red one. She moved on to one of her brothers as she waited for the paint to dry on the picture of Danni. She slowly began to paint her brother's armor as both of her brothers leaned in to watch._

"_Careful, you don't watch to smudge it. If you do, it won't look as glossy," her gold-coloured brother advised her._

"_I won't," Notestryder chirped._

"_Eh, she'll make me look good either way, bro," her red brother piped up._

"_Yep!" she said as she finished her red brother's armor and moved on to paint her gold brother's armor._

_Her twin older brothers chuckled. Their danni came over and set three Energon cubes down on the table, and Notestryder put down the gold paint-filled airbrush pen that she had been using. She picked up her cube, and fiddled with a corner for a while before struggling to open the cube. Her gold brother reached over and cut off the corner for her, and for a brief moment, she wondered how he could be so patient with her when he could be so impatient with other mechs and femmes. Maybe it was because she was his sister?_

_She slowly began to sip her Energon, like her mother had told her to, as she listened to her danni clean. Her opi was upstairs, doing something, but she didn't know what. She felt safe, though, with both her creators at home and both of her brothers sitting across the table from her. Her brothers were the bestest gladiators in all of Kaon, after all. No bad bot would dare come inside and hurt anybot in her family unit. They'd be diced and sliced before they could get across the threshold, anyway._

_Suddenly, the front door blew inward and a tall mech, as tall as opi and taller than danni, walked in. He turned his red optics, which were full of evil and malice on her before turning his attention to the room danni was cleaning in. Her brothers were instantly on their pedes and charging the mech, but he pulled out a gun that shocked them and sent them reeling to the floor._

_She could remember her danni and opi's anguished screams, and would never forget them._

…

"But my brothers are not gone," she said before she subspaced her blasters and lay down on her berth. "They are out there somewhere…"

Notestryder was a tall femme, and she had two brothers. One was red and the other was gold. They were twins. She was a former data-track jockey who had sworn to protect sparklings, younglings, and anyone (other than Decepticons) around her.

And her brothers' names were Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.


	2. History

**Here's the next chapter! Took longer than I wanted, but I have been busy.**

**Tell me about this chapter. And don't just tell me it's "good" (no offence). I wanna know if you laughed or if you cried (well there wasn't anything really sad in this chapter…) and what you liked about it. I makes my responces, which will be at the bottom of each chapter, all that more interesting. I like talking to my readers! :D**

**Disclaimer: I own Notestryder, the sparklings: Wrangler, Clutch, and Code Red, and the youngling: Skybeat, but I don't own the Transformers. Transformers belongs to Hasbro, and the idea of Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp being the princes and the Royal Command Trine of Vos belongs to Lunar Mist. Thanks for letting me use it, Lunar Mist!**

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2 – **History** – 2

When Notestryder came out of recharge, she found that there was somebot sitting on her abdomen. No, scratch that, there were _three_ somebots sitting on her. She opened her optics and took in the three sparklings sitting on her. They all stared at her with wide blue optics and she couldn't help but smile and allow a small chuckle.

"Good joor, you three," she said before yawning.

"Hi!" Clutch exclaimed.

"Goo' 'oor," Code Red greeted sleepily before snuggling down over her spark.

"You awake?" asked Wrangler cutely.

She nodded before slowly raising herself into a sitting position. She held her servos up to catch Code Red as he slid down her chest, and she chuckled as the other two flailed around on her lap. After setting Code Red down between her legs, she righted Wrangler and Clutch so that they could relax. After she was done that, she spent the rest of the time it took her systems to fully online examining the three.

The eldest was Wrangler, who was a little red doorwinger with Bumblebee-esque antenna (she remembered meeting the mech once in a marketplace halfway through the war). He was the creation of Hound and Quick Raid. She wasn't sure how those two met, other than it had something to do with one of her pranks, a couple cubes of Energon, and a battle the two had been caught in—alone.

Clutch was the creation of Firestar, and the second eldest. She wasn't sure who his opiluk was, and Firestar would never talk to her about him. Clutch had four tiny wheels, was a royal blue and had a chevron on his forehead, so Notestryder suspected that his father had been Praxian.

And the youngest sparkling was Code Red. Nobody knew who his creators were. She had found him curled up and crying after she had come online in the Youth Sector after the attack. But she suspected that he was the creation of Red Alert, and not because his designation had the word 'Red' in it or that it had something to do with announcing an emergency. It was because he was almost a spitting image of the Autobot security director, and because his armor was a ruby red colour.

"Fully awake, now?" Wrangler asked.

Notestryder chuckled again. "Sure am, squirt," she said.

"Yay!" Clutch and Wrangler both exclaimed. Code Red only mumbled something, having slipped back into a very light recharge.

The blue Praxian sparkling and the red sparkling clambered up onto her shoulders, and she held Code Red carefully in her servos. She stepped lightly off the berth and walked towards her quarter's door, which swished open silently. With a bright smile on her faceplates, she began to make her way towards the mess hall, where she could get a cube of Energon. For both her and her three cling-ons.

She grabbed three Energon cubes from the storage cupboard as soon as she was inside, and set them down on a table. She then set Wrangler and Clutch down across the table from where she was going to sit, and when she did, she sat sleepy little Code Red on her lap. Taking three sippy-cups from her subspace, she took a cube, and after opening it, split it between two of the sippy-cups before giving them to Wrangler and Clutch. She then took the second cube and poured half into the third sippy-cup before giving it to Code Red. She set the second cube off to the side, still half-full, in case the two older sparklings wanted more. They were close to becoming younglings. Maybe a few more orns.

She took the last cube and opened it as the three little ones began to drink their morning Energon. She slowly began to sip on hers as Hound, Quick Raid, Prowl, Firestar, and Minerva came in. They all got their Energon and migrated over to the only other table in the mess hall, talking along the way. Notestryder smiled before she went back to refueling.

But she nearly dumped her Energon as a small body crashed into her back, causing the thin struts that held the side-panels of her alt to twang painfully. "Careful, Skybeat!" Notestryder chastised.

"Sorry, Auntie 'Stryder," the femmeling apologised before climbing off her back and settling down on the bench next to her.

Notestryder looked down at her and smiled. "It's quite alright, sweetspark," she said, accepting the apology.

Skybeat smiled, glad that she wasn't in trouble.

Notestryder couldn't really stay mad at any of the creations on board, and she really couldn't stay mad at Skybeat when she got into trouble with her hilarious antics. The older femme rubbed the youngling's purple helm, all the while marveling at how much a blessing Skybeat was to this small band of Autobots.

The white femme had spent an orbital-cycle out on patrol. It had been a pretty desolate sector that she had to check out, and it was quite…quiet. But her sensors had alerted her to something approaching. She had stopped and waited, not sure if what was approaching was a friend or foe. Until a sparkling had stumbled up, looking like she had been beaten up quite badly. Notestryder took her back to base, feeling pity for her. She always had a soft spot for sparklings. That was how she found her.

Skybeat's armor was a rich royal purple that slightly glittered in the light, and her optics were a deep emerald green in colour. Sticking out of her back were two triangular wings, marking her as a seeker. On her forehelm there were three large green gemstones that matched her optics, and they looked as if they were almost strung together by ribbons of pure white carbon crystals applied to her helm with only tiny gaps in between. It was almost like a crown, and Prowl had mused that there was a possibility that Skybeat was nobility.

The femmeling only came up to Notestryder's knee, and possessed a sweet personality, holding none of what a noble's daughter should have, like pride or aloofness. She viewed Notestryder as more of a danniluk than an aunt, but she really hadn't told anybody else other than Notestryder about it. There was one thing that hinted at Skybeat's heritage, though. It was that she possessed a warp-generator.

One couldn't possess a warp-generator like one could possess an electro-disruptor or a cloaking-generator (though, cloaking-generators were pretty rare. Only one bot was known to have one, and that the former noble known as Mirage. He used it to hide from both organic and robotic organisms). You couldn't buy it, it only formed within the bot who's sire or carrier had it. Only one other Cybertronian was known to have such a device, and he was the Decepticon Skywarp.

Notestryder, being a thinker during the times when she was not pranking and when she was trying to keep the Decepticons from killing her and her fellow Autobots, often wondered if Skywarp was Skybeat's sire. But Skybeat wasn't able to confirm it, because she couldn't remember who her sire or her carrier were. But, if Notestryder was correct about who one of her creators were, then Skybeat wasn't just nobility, she was _royalty_. She would be a princess of the now desolate city of Vos. She _would_ be the princess of Vos—if they ever got to rebuild Cybertron.

Notestryder shook her helm and stopped thinking, realizing that she had just lifted her now-empty cube of Energon to her lips for the third time. She set the cube down on the table and looked down at Code Red. He had finished his Energon, and his sippy-cup hung precariously from his servos. She looked up at Wrangler and Clutch, and saw them waiting patiently for her to give them more Energon. And she did, emptying the remaining Energon into both of their sippy-cups. Notestryder looked at Skybeat, pondering if she had had any Energon yet that morning. There was no empty Energon cube sitting on the table in front of the youngling.

"Don't worry, Auntie 'Stryder. Minerva was giving me a checkup this morning and gave me some medical grade while she was doing it," she replied.

The white femme sighed in relief. "Good. I don't want any hungry tanks rumbling as I teach you about the different types of Cybertronians in our studies this solar-cycle," she told the seekerlet.

Wrangler held up a servo. "Auntie 'Stryder?"

Notestryder nodded in his direction. "Yes, Wrangler?"

"How do we tell what's a solar-cycle and what's a lunar-cycle out here in space?"

The femme smiled, liking how her pupils and surrogate nephews and niece were forming their words. Some sparklings and younglings their age were not on their level of speech. Everybot was different, though. "We will be going by our chronometers, Wrangler. That's how we'll know if it's the solar-cycle or the lunar-cycle. We'll be discussing this in the future, hopefully before we get a message from our Prime."

"I can't wait to meet Optimus Prime! Prowl's told me about him!" Clutch exclaimed. Clutch had an odd fondness for the SiC. Maybe it had something to do with the crest mounted on Prowl's forehelm…

Notestryder nodded. "Alright then, if you are finished your morning Energon, I think it is time for us to go to the studies room," she announced, standing up.

"But we're not on Cybertron anymore…" Code Red whined.

She chuckled, "But that doesn't mean we're taking a break from studies, little one. Besides, I think you'll all like this lesson I've got for you. You'll be able to learn about your roots, and how we all came to be." She got to her pedes and set Code Red down on the floor, now that the Energon he had consumed had finally helped him online. She walked to the door and stopped, waiting for the little ones to follow her.

Once they were standing at her heel-struts, she strode forward, heading towards the studies room. The youngling and the sparklings toddled after her, smiling and giggling in their little conversations. But they stopped once they had entered the studies room and quickly went to their desks. Four little desks sat facing a larger one at the front of the classroom. Notestryder's desk sat a few feet away from the wall so she could have access to the large data-board mounted there.

"Now, I have an actual use for our data-board here," she told the little ones before she proceeded to push the desk off to the corner, taking the chair with it. Once it was out of the way, she strode back over to where the desk used to be and faced her students. "Alright, young sparks, let's begin the lesson on different types of Cybertronians," she announced.

Skybeat raised her servo, stopping the impromptu tutor from continuing. "Yes, Skybeat?"

The youngling lowered her servo. "Why did you move your desk, Auntie 'Stryder?"

She smiled, glad that the eldest of the bunch had asked a simple question. "Ah, well I like to have a lot of room to use the data-board. When I experimented with it, I didn't like having the desk in the way. I kept bumping into it."

Skybeat seemed satisfied with the answer and didn't say anything more.

The struts the side-panel of her alt were mounted to rose happily before she turned to the data-board. Taking a stylus that would make the letters on the board appear white, she wrote "The Different Types of Cybertronians" along the top. Then she proceeded to write the types in a list down the left side. When she was done, she took a pointer that she was going to use to point out the words written on the board and turned back to face the young ones.

"There are many types of Cybertronians, and they all exist to this day," Notestryder told them, holding the pointer lightly in her servos. "Contrary to many panicked neutrals' thoughts, Megatron really hasn't been able to wipe out an entire race of Cybertronians. For example, many Praxians still exist, like you Clutch," said sparkling chirped when I said his name, "and Prowl." She gripped the pointer. "And even though Megatron attacked and destroyed the Youth Centers and killed many femmes, younglings, and sparklings, femmes are not an endangered species. Many neutral femmes either joined the Autobots, bringing their sparklings or younglings with them, where they received protection and training, or flew off into the far corners of the galaxy with their family units. I'm one of those femmes, actually."

"Cool!" Wrangler exclaimed, ever being the most boisterous sparkling. "And you're the sister of the famous Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, right?!"

She nodded before pointing the pointer to the words on the board. "Yes, I am, but now's not the time to talk about those two jokers. Let us continue on with the lesson."

"Cybertron was, and probably still is, inhabited by grounders and flyers. Everyone in this room but Skybeat is a grounder. Skybeat is a flyer," Notestryder continued. "There are two types of flyers, seekers—who are native to the city of Vos, and flyers. Flyers share their name with their category because that is what they are. The famous combiner team, the Aerial Bots, are flyers, not seekers. But Skybeat is a seeker." The sparklings all looked at the purple femmeling, causing her to blush.

"Today, I'll be singling each and every one of you out, showing you your roots."

* * *

Notestryder gave a sigh of relief as she sat down in her quarters. She needed recharge badly. The solar-cycle had been long and tiresome, and the lesson she had taught to the young ones had been very detailed and thorough. A little bit too detailed and thorough…

The white femme curled up on her comfortable berth and let out a sigh. Because their band was so small, many of the bots had had to take up more than one job or position. For example, Quick Raid was a sniper, but now she was also a pilot as well; and Prowl was the SiC of the Autobot army, as well as the leader of this band, tactician, and a tutor for the sparklings once or twice every few mega-cycles. Notestryder was this little band's frontliner, even though she didn't have enough training to be one, part-time communications officer, and full-time tutor for the young ones on board. Desperate times call for desperate measures, it seemed.

Her teaching was all impromptu because she hadn't been a tutor-bot before the war.

She continued to think as her optics slowly offlined. It irked her every time someone mentioned her brothers' names, and she didn't know why. It had taken a lot of self-control to keep herself from frowning at Wrangler, who had spoken her brothers' names. He was innocent, he had no idea that she mulled and worried about her brothers all the time.

With another sigh, she rolled onto her front and fell into recharge.

…

_Not that long ago, Notestryder had finally become an adult femme. She sat alone in the housing unit she had gotten as soon as the war started, typing at a datapad, hoping to take her processor off of the worry for her brothers that always plagued her thoughts. The housing unit sat within the safety of Iacon, the Autobot capitol, but so far, no one had come to see her or tried to make friends—other than the neon yellow politician-turned-medic she had bumped into at the market the other day, or the blue femme that had the personality of a firecracker who had helped her save a cybercat that had found its way onto a roof._

_She stopped her typing and decided to look at the pictures she had stored on the pad. There were many pictures of Iacon on it, including a few pictures of the landscape she had to travel through in order to get to Iacon from Kaon. But there were a few of her brothers. And in each and every one of them, they were happy. And she was glad, because she'd rather see them smiling in a still photo or in real life than seeing them taking down a gladiator at the ring down in Kaon._

_She missed them, missed them dearly. She hadn't seen them for so long, and her bonds with them felt so unused. She worried about the bonds, knowing that they were really the only connection she had with them left. Could the bonds fade away with so little contact or use? She would have to ask the medic she met in the market, because she didn't want to lose her brothers._

_There was a knock on her housing unit's front door, and she jolted from her thoughts in surprise. She looked towards the door, and her spark sunk, along with her panel struts. Who was it? She remembered running into a pre-adult that had been very perverted and annoying. He kept wanting to "go out with her" and "show her around", saying how he "loved the ruby shade of her optics". He didn't leave her alone until he came across her one day, cleaning her blades. _

_What if he had gotten the guts to come back? What if he was going to harass her again?_

_But she had to figure out who was at the door. It would be rude to not see if it was a possible friend…_

_Quickly, she got to her pedes and walked over to the door. She'd be able to defend herself if she was attacked anyway._

_The door slid open, and Notestryder saw that no one was standing at the door. She grew apprehensive, wondering if this was some plot to draw her into the open so that she could be attacked and caught off guard._ I won't step outside, then,_ she thought. Iacon was known for its relatively criminal-free streets, and that's the reason why she moved there. But there was still the occasional bum, or starving bot that would risk the Elite Guard for a few cubes of Energon._

_Notestryder took a small step forward, her red optics large with nervousness. "He-hello? Is anyone there?"_

_Suddenly, two mechs who were taller than her appeared before her. One was red and the other was gold. "I dunno…should we tell her?" the red one asked his twin._

"_Sideswipe! Sunstreaker!" she exclaimed, barreling into them._

_The two ex-gladiators chuckled as she wrapped her arms around them and pulled them close. "You do not know how much I've missed you," she told them happily. "I thought you had forgotten about me."_

"_How could we forget about you?" Sunstreaker asked._

"_You're our sister!" Sideswipe finished for him._

_She looked up at them sadly. "But I can barely feel you over our bonds…you've been away for too long…"_

_Sunstreaker stroked her helm. "Yeah…we've been apart for too long… But we can't do anything about it. Optimus Prime has accepted us into the Autobot ranks."_

_That was when she noticed their optics. They were Autobot blue and no longer red. "You changed your optics!" she breathed._

_Sideswipe nodded. "Yeah…we had to. You see, in the Autobot army, they say the colour of a Decepticon's optics and the symbol he wears marks which side he's on. Optimus really didn't want anybody to be wary of us, so he made Ratchet change our optic colour."_

_She looked down, unsettled. Their red optics…had been the same shade as hers and their opiluk's. Now it was gone, and it wasn't going to come back. It was one of the last things they had had to remind them of their family and their life before the war. And she didn't like it._

"_Why don't you join the Autobots, Note'? They'll take care of you and make sure that nobody touches you in the wrong way. Pit, _we'll_ make sure that no one will touch you or _look_ at you the wrong way. You're our sister," Sideswipe said as they gathered her up into their arms._

_Tears trickled down her cheekplates. "I…I…can't…" she whimpered. "I'm trying so hard to avoid this war. I don't wanna kill… Primus, you two! I was just a data-track jockey before the war! I'm not built to kill, not physically, not mentally!"_

"_It's your choice, Note'. If you don't want to fight, that's your choice," Sunstreaker said._

"_I just don't want you to get hurt," she sobbed._

* * *

Notestryder sat at the communications console the next solar-cycle and listened to the sound filtering through the helmphones that sat on her helm and encased her audios. She had been appointed the impromptu communications officer when she informed Prowl that the console looked similar to the sound board she had used to mix songs with at the local club. Though, it had a few more buttons and knobs and she wasn't quite sure what they did.

The space around them was silent, and it was beginning to rub her the wrong way. It was a world without sound! It was making her thought processes feel monotone. Though…the peace was somewhat nice…

_What the prime? I'm so bipolar!_ Notestryder exclaimed mentally, taking note how she first thought the silence was annoying to thinking it was nice. _I don't have split personalities, but that sure reminded me of that crackpot Decepticon Blitzwing!_

She sighed and sat back in the chair she was sitting in, still listening to the silent cosmos they slowly flew through. Glancing out the front viewscreen, she watched as they passed a large and very pink galaxy. She knew it was called the "Rose Galaxy", after an organic life form that the original thirteen Primes had come across shortly before they disappeared.

She turned back to the console as something suddenly crackled in the helmphones. She quickly turned the knobs in order to enhance the quality of the sound. It wasn't until the knobs were turned up all the way that she could hear something intelligible, and when she did, she gasped.

"_With the All Spark gone... And fate…yielded…reward: a new world…call home. We…among…people now, hiding…plain sight…watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting. I have…their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I…Optimus Prime…I send this message…any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here. We are waiting."_

"OH. MY. PRIMUS!" she shrieked in surprise.

Prowl rushed over to where she was sitting from where he had been watching the radiation readings of the Rose Galaxy on another console. "What is the matter? Are we under attack?" he demanded.

Notestryder shook her helm quickly. "No, no, no…" she said hastily. "I—I got a t-transmission from Optimus Prime, sir! I wouldn't mistake his voice for all of Cybertron—and he specifically said who he was in the message."

"How old is it?" the SiC asked.

"At least five stellar-cycles old, sir. And very broken up, meaning it came from far away. But the good thing is, it came with coordinants—which haven't been destroyed yet. We can input them into the autopilot, and we'll get their as fast the ship can go!" she sent a databurst of the coordinants to the leader of the small band of Autobots, and watched as he nodded in confirmation once he received it.

She watched as he stalked over to the console containing the autopilot. They were on their way to safety, and friends—_finally_.

* * *

**Heh, heh, heh… Closer to Earth, yep, and closer to the twins!**

* * *

**SJSGirl:** Glad you like it! Thanks!

**TheGhost129:** Aw, thanks! :D

**Golden Eagle 603:** The team hasn't quite reached Earth, but in the next chapter they will!

**Guest (#1):** Thanks!

**Guest (#2): **Thanks!

**zrexheartz:** That's good!


	3. The Blue and Green Planet

**Ah, okay, so I have no excuse for this chapter. I'm sorry it took so long. And I know, it's like half the size of last chapter, but that's because this one only had a little bit of the story needing to be said. Next chapter, there will be a good-ish battle (I'm not quite sure how good of a battle-describer I am), and it will be longer. Enjoy this chapter. Thanks :)**

**(Note: Why does this chapter [to me] seem so rushed? *shrugs*)**

* * *

3 – **The Blue and Green Planet** – 3

Notestryder gazed down upon the blue and green planet below and sighed before their orbit swung them behind the white, rocky moon that orbited it. "So this is the planet that Optimus is on? It's so…_organic_…" she said, her opticbrows scrunching up in worry. "What about the young sparks? Will they be safe there?" she looked at the SiC, who stood next to her with his servos clasped behind his back.

Prowl nodded. "Though I do not know how many Autobots are on the surface, there is a 73.5% chance that the sparklings and Skybeat will be quite protected. The ship's scanners cannot pick up any Decepticon activity on the surface, either. They will be fine," he told her in his calm way.

She sighed. "Alright, so…who gets to go with them?"

He caught her gaze with his piercing blue one. "The one to go with them is their caretaker, their teacher, their best friend: you," he said.

Notestryder felt her red optics widen. "_Me_? But…but…what if we run into a Decepticon, _even if_ the computer can't see it? How do you know if I can keep them safe?" her spark raced with maternal instincts.

Prowl looked at her flatly. "Your brothers were professional gladiators, and have been since only a few vorns after you were sparked. Since the beginning, your spark had been tied to theirs, and even though you never knew it, your spark listened to your brothers' sparks, copying their in-battle ferocity and hiding it away for the time where it would be needed. I can guarantee that _if_ you run into a Decepticon, or even a group of them, you'll be able to fight them off."

She nodded slowly.

The black and white mech narrowed his optics and stared at her intently. "Something is on your processor—is something wrong?"

Notestryder nodded again. "It's just my brothers," she stated, looking away from him. "I can't _feel_ them anymore." And with that, she turned and walked from the bridge. She had to get ready to go.

She stopped just on the other side of the doors, though, as Prowl comm'ed her. **::You'll be leaving in two joors. I suggest you pack up everything you might need. Oh, and…I'm sorry.::**

She smiled slightly, before continuing on down the hall.

* * *

Notestryder sat down in the cockpit of the tiny deployable craft stored in the belly of the much larger ship she had just spent an orn on. She had lowered Wrangler, Clutch, Code Red, and Skybeat into the cockpit before her, and now she watched as they waved goodbye to the others. Wrangler had tears in his optics since he was actually leaving his danni and opi behind. The other sparklings were fine since Auntie 'Stryder was going with them, but she saw when Clutch turned his helm that he had tears in his optics as well. He would miss Prowl.

"Don't worry, young ones, we'll be seeing them soon. We're just going on ahead of them in order to check out this cool planet," the white femme encouraged. She didn't like it when they cried, because it made her spark ache.

"How long?" Wrangler whimpered.

"Not very long, nephew," she said as one of Skybeat's wings brushed up against her chestplates.

"Don't worry, sweetspark," Quick Raid told her creation. She pointed to her chestplates. "Danni and Opi will always be in your spark."

The red sparkling nodded bravely before wiping at his tears with his balled-up servos.

"You must go now, Notestryder. There may not be any Decepticon activity on the planet at this moment, but that does not mean that there won't be any anytime soon," Prowl said.

Worry ruled her expression. "I-I'm not the best pilot," she reminded him.

"But you're not the worst either," Prowl shot back, ending the conversation. "_Go_."

Notestryder nodded once before she pressed the button to close the cockpit. She then gripped the controls that came up out of the floor between her pedes with both servos and glanced back at the bots seeing them off. Warpath winked at her. **::Kick some Decepticon tailpipe for us, won't'cha? And perk up a little and be who you are.:: **he told her over a comm. link before a door opened in the wall in front of them and the small craft was launched out into space.

She took a deep breath in order to calm herself as she warmed up the engines and piloted them away from the main ship. The sparklings and the youngling were distracted by the sights they could see as they flew around the moon and towards the blue and green planet. Their attention, though was transfixed on the planet as soon as it enveloped their vision.

"So…you guys…are you excited to see this new world? I don't think there's much of a war there. Prowl says we'll be safe and that we'll get to meet more Autobots…" she told her fellow passengers.

"Autobots!" Code Red chirped happily.

Skybeat turned and looked up at her. "Auntie 'Stryder…do you think they'll accept me? I'm—I'm a seeker," she said, a worried tone in her voice.

Notestryder took one servo off of the controls and rubbed the youngling's helm comfortingly. "You do not have to worry about a thing, sweetspark. They'll love you to pieces, I promise," she said lovingly.

The seekerlet smiled and turned to face the front again. Notestryder was glad she was able to quell the little one's obvious unease. But that got her thinking…would the Autobots suspect her of being a Decepticon spy because of her _optics_? They were red, like a Decepticon's. They'd probably not even look at her Autobot symbol before they'd attack. She'd have to steel herself and keep herself from lashing out at her allies. She was an Autobot, not a Decepticon.

The entry was smooth, but a little bouncy as they entered the planet's atmosphere. The young sparks whimpered in fear as the craft shot down into a strange new world, but they soon stopped as they started to examine everything on the surface below. She pulled back on the controls and they leveled out slightly. But the craft continued to head toward the ground at a dangerous pace. _I have to get it to slow down! The young ones might get hurt if we crash!_

She heaved back on the controls again, wrestling with the craft itself to bring it under control. Her armor was pressed against her protoform as a mountain rushed into view, straight ahead. She gasped, knowing it was too late to save the ship. "Guys, grab onto me _now_!" she ordered at the top of her lungs as the ship kept flying towards its doom. Skybeat grabbed onto her back while Notestryder gathered the other three into her arms. She then pressed the emergency cockpit eject button and braced herself.

With a mighty whoosh, they were thrown into the air, and Notestryder turned in time to see the craft slam into the side of the mountain and burst into flames.

But then they were falling.

Her optics seemed to bulge as the sparklings began to scream. Skybeat whimpered and desperately started to flap her wings in order to try and slow their descent. But she didn't know how to fly, so it was useless.

"Hold on!" Notestryder cried as she steered them towards a tall green and brown structure. They crashed into it, and it slowed their descent greatly, though her legs protested. The white femme winced as they rolled to the ground in a traumatised heap. She groaned as her HUD gave off several warnings, telling her about dented armor and a twisted panel-strut. It hurt like pit, so she quickly nulled her pain receptors a bit.

She got to her pedes slowly as the little ones flailed on the ground. Her twisted strut hung limply from her back as she surveyed the area, and once she had deducted that their loud entrance to this planet had not attracted any attention, she relaxed slightly and looked down at the ones she had to protect.

The little mechs, Wrangler, Clutch, and Code Red were looking at the ground with awe. They were picking up clumps of dark brown organic material that made up the surface they stood (or in their case _kneeled_) upon. Skybeat watched with interest, but stayed by Notestryder's side, obviously not wanting to touch the organic material.

"Alright, little ones," Notestryder called to them. "We must get out of this area before the sun sets. Who knows what could be lurking here that my scanners cannot pick up?" The sparklings got to their pedes and came over to the femme. When she knew she had everyone with her, including Skybeat, she started shepherding them forward. They chirped at everything new that they saw, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Ooh! What's that?"

"That looks like a retrobird!"

"Like Laserbeak and Squawkbox?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hey! There's a turbohound!"

"Cool!"

Notestryder had to chuckle as the sparklings compared the organic creatures on this planet to the creatures they had on Cybertron. They had talked about them in a lesson, though they never really had a chance to see any of the animals in real life. Most of them had gone into hiding halfway through the war.

Skybeat took in her surroundings, but didn't let anything show on her faceplates. Notestryder was worried that the fall had traumatised her somewhat. A seeker scared of flying was not a good thing.

They eventually came across a small town, and they watched the natives of this planet go along on their daily lives. But Notestryder also found a new alt for her in the process, since it would be vital to blend in and go unnoticed. It was something called a Bugatti Veyron.

Now…Prowl had told her that Optimus Prime was located not too far from where they were, but the image the coordinates brought up showed a small landmass surrounded by a liquid classified as water. They were near the _mountains_ not a _liquid_. They were supposed to fly closer, but since she wasn't a pilot, they had crashed far away from where they were supposed to be. She was annoyed because it wasn't easy to travel with sparklings and younglings. It left you open to attack.

But she'd have to do it, with all four little beings crammed into her alt so that it would be easier to travel. They were going to be squished, because her cabin had only been made to seat two of the local natives.

* * *

It had been a long, _long_ trip, and they were only halfway across the landmass. Two orbital-cycles had passed, and it was now deep into this planet's lunar-cycle. All four of her charges were lying on top of one another, in recharge, and Notestryder could only wish that she could join them. She needed recharge because her fatigue was making her thoughts hazy. She needed to be aware in order to keep a scanner peeled for any Decepticon activity.

In the morning she'd find a place to recharge. It'd give her enough energy to keep going.

The sign stating that she had just passed into a territory called Pennsylvania passed and she sighed. Once she made it to the coast, she'd take a short recharge while she thought of a way to get to the island. She couldn't drive through the body of water, she'd get crushed.

Morning found her deep within recharge in a national park near the coast. The little beings still recharged within her, and the windows of her cabin were blacked out to the point that none of the natives that were now in the park wouldn't be able to see in. It was quiet in the park, and that allowed the femme to unconsciously sort out her systems and return them to proper functioning. Her processor was free of any dreams or memories of her brothers, which was a relief.

The only thing you could hear was the quiet whispering of the wind, and the far off voices of the organic mechs and femmes that walked around. It was peaceful and tranquil.

The environment had to be destroyed, though. It was like there was some unwritten law out there that kept peace and tranquility from existing for too long. The large fountain sitting in the middle of the parking lot suddenly exploded.

Sensors blaring out warnings, Notestryder jerked out of recharge. The sparklings and the youngling deactivated their recharge protocols and opened their little optics. Notestryder could sense Decepticon presences, and she instantly knew that everyone, including herself, was in danger.

Her doors flew open and she ushered the young ones out. They stumbled out of her interior groggily and stood off to the side, allowing her to pull forward and transform into her bipedal form. "Decepticons!" she bellowed, alerting all of the fleshlings and her charges of the impending danger. "Clear the area!" she told them as she gazed down at the small fleshy beings around her just as the evil mechs rushed into sight.

Notestryder's spark stalled. She brought out her blasters and began to fire as they approached. The fleshies screamed and ran as fast as they could. What looked to be bonded femmes and mech with their creations ran together as they escaped from the oncoming danger. Once the parking lot was moderately empty, she charged forward, swapping her blasters for her blades.

The lead Decepticon flipped a minivan as he charged into the parking lot. Her ruby optics flashed as she met him in the middle.

* * *

**Okay, just as a note, Prowl had Notestryder download the English language from a nearby satellite, so that's how the humans can understand her.**

* * *

**SJSGirl: **I glad you do! I was afraid people would take one look at them and leave the story (because they're OCs). I look forward to the reunion too, because who doesn't like Sunny or Sides?

Background voice: *echoing* Don't call me that!

**Golden Eagle 603:** Thanks! I try to make my characters as interesting as possible. Stereotypical characters are really annoying and so are Mary-Sues. I wanted her not to seem too overpowered…

**TheGhost129:** Glad you liked it!

**Guestinthehouse:** I absolutely _love_ sparklings. I actually prefer them over human babies. Strange, I know, since I've never handled a sparkling before (maybe it's because a sparkling upchucking unprocessed Energon isn't as gross as a baby losing their organic lunch? O_o). Five stellar cycles do equal five years—I've got a guide to all the terms I use up on my profile (it's near the top). And thanks, I'm very picky with my grammar (is my grammar good? I don't know…)

**Madsluads:** Well, she's on Earth now! I want them [Sideswipe and Sunstreaker] to be the "Lambo Twins" in this fic, not the "Corvette Twins" or "'Vette Twins". Sides will be red, because he's going to be a Lamborghini. If he was to be a Corvette, he would be silver. So they can be called the Ketchup and Mustard Twins!

**zrexheartz:** Yep, gotta love 'em!


	4. Battle Them

**Hey, guys! So, yeah, this chapter **_**is**_** longer than the last chapter, but only by a few hundred words. Don't worry, (I don't want to say this) the next chapter will be longer! There will be a lot to talk about once they hit the base. She'll need to recover, we get to check out the other bots, she'll get to make new friends, get new optics, and…I'll let you guess the rest XD**

* * *

4 – **Battle Them** – 4

She swung at the Decepticon with her right blade, but was caught off guard when he punched her in the abdomen. Once she regained her balance, she kicked at him before running him through. She charged over to the next Decepticon and cut him down as well.

Before she went for another Decepticon, she turned her helm in order to look at the sparklings and Skybeat out of the corner of her optic. "Skybeat!" she called. It caught the seekerlet's attention. "Warp the sparklings to a safe place! Take them to Optimus Prime!"

"How, Auntie 'Stryder?" the scared femmeling asked.

"I don't know! Think 'Optimus Prime'! Here, I'm sending you an image of him!" the white femme told her before she had to fend off another Decepticon. There were only a couple more. As she twisted around, getting ready to bring down an attack on the mech's helm, she saw the seekerlet hug Wrangler, Clutch, and Code Red in some sort of group hug before they disappeared in a flash of purple light. Her spark eased a little, glad to know that they were safe, for now. She just had to hope that Optimus hadn't been captured by the Decepticons at this moment. Skybeat's warp generator would bring them to the Decepticons then. Oops.

Now that she didn't have to worry about her charges being in danger, a little bit of her mischievous attitude returned and she laughed as she sliced the Decepticon's helm off. Yeah, maybe Prowl was right about her acquiring her brothers' traits through the bonds, because, for some reason, she was having _fun_. Having fun _killing_.

"Oh, _Sunny_, I can almost feel you smiling," she remarked before she received a blaster shot to her back. She was thrown forward, and she couldn't help but cry out.

Crashing to the ground, she felt her damaged strut give before snapping completely off, and she howled with pain. The remaining Decepticon was large, much larger than the ones she had already destroyed. It had to be a least twice as large as the last one, and much stronger than she was. She slowly got to her pedes, noting where her strut had landed so that she would be able to pick it up later. _If_ she got out of this. Yes she had been able to take out the others, but this one could crush her easily.

It pointed a large gun at her and shot at her again, but she managed to dodge it. She landed heavily on her pedes and whipped out a blaster, figuring that only long-distance attacks would work against this guy. She fired off a few shots, hitting him in the shoulder and the knee before he fired at her. She tried to twirl away, but the shot hit her other strut, blasting the side-panel off. She glanced down forlornly at it, knowing that the loss of her side-panels rendered her transformation unusable. She had to be faster, though.

Quickly thinking of her brother, Sideswipe, and figuring that he would be proud, she brought the wheels of her alt-mode down under her pedes and used them to skate. Her red brother had often done it to get the upper hand in one of his battles. Using the wheels of his alt increased his speed, making him an even more deadly foe.

She wasn't the best as skating during battle, but she knew enough to move.

"Yo, beastie!" she called to the Decepticon, causing it to pause. "You want to destroy me, right? Well, I'm not goin' down without a fight, so come and get some!"

* * *

Skybeat was jerked forward once the warp was complete, and she had to stumble forward a couple of steps in order to keep the sparklings from tumbling to the ground. She let go of the three and let out a sigh of relief as her systems quickly replaced the energy the warp had used. She guessed that was why Auntie 'Stryder continually told her over and over not to use her warp generator often. She'd be one tuckered out youngling. She glanced around. Auntie 'Stryder wasn't there with them.

She hadn't warped Auntie 'Stryder with them, so she was still on the battlefield with those nasty Decepticons. A wave of panic shot through her and she shuttered. Wrangler, Clutch, and Code Red turned to look at her as her wings drooped. "Auntie 'Stryder's in trouble…"

"Who is this… 'Auntie 'Stryder'?" a deep voice suddenly asked from high above them.

In sync, they squeaked in surprise before turning and facing the source of the voice. They looked up and up and up… the owner of the voice was _sooo_ tall, that Code Red ending up falling onto his back in order to see the blue optics of the enormous mech they were suddenly in the presence of.

Skybeat let out a long squeaky breath and blinked. "O-Optimus P-Prime!" She managed to breathe.

The Prime, who's armor was painted with red and blue flames, knelt down to be closer on the young ones' level. "That is I. Where did you come from?" he asked.

"…We…we…warped here…s-sir…" Wrangler answered for them.

He seemed surprised. "Warped?" he repeated.

Skybeat nodded slowly, hesitantly. "Yeah, I can warp. It's a gift Auntie 'Stryder says I have. She told us to find you and get away from the bad Decepticons…" she clasped her little servos together and looked down as the Primes optics widened and brightened in surprise.

"She is in danger? Where is she?" he asked.

Clutch and Code Red shrank back, but Wrangler stepped forward. "S-she called it a 'park'. B-by an o-ocean of liquid…" he told him.

The Prime nodded before his optics darkened. A klik or so went by before they brightened. "One of my officers has informed me that there is Decepticon activity in one of the national parks next to the ocean known as the 'Atlantic'. Do not worry, the femme you speak of will be safe," he told them.

* * *

Notestryder cried out as she was thrown back by another powerful blast, which had hit her abdomen. She was sent somersaulting backwards as Energon began pouring from the wound. _'Warning: Low Energon Levels. Refueling is advised.'_ Her HUD warned her. This was bad. Bad, bad, _bad_. She had been monitoring her Energon levels, and she knew they were dropping and becoming low, but she was going to wait until she met the other Autobots before she refueled. Now she was leaking the precious life fluid from various places in her frame, and there wasn't a drop of unprocessed Energon in sight.

She got back to her wheeled pedes, her knees now shaking. She had tried everything on this monster, and even though he was also leaking Energon profusely, he still stood strong. She didn't know how it was possible. She had hit it in all its fatal weaknesses. She had hit it in the spark chamber, the shoulders, the knees, the servos, and the helm, but it still wouldn't go down! If she had been hit in all those places, she would be dead!

She decided she would have another run at it. She really didn't care if she was putting her existence at risk, because she still couldn't feel her brothers. _At first I'd hoped that they were with Optimus Prime on this planet, so why can I not feel them? Maybe they're offline?_ she thought before she ploughed into the chest of the brute. This caused it to stumble back slightly before throwing her off of itself. She hit the ground hard and slid away, grinding her painted armor into the concrete.

The white femme came to a stop next to one of the lone cars left in the parking lot. She glanced inside, and her spark wobbled as she saw the fleshy sparkling in the back seat. On the other side of the car, what seemed to be the sparkling's danniluk was screaming as she tried to yank open the back door. Notestryder's optics widened and her gaze snapped over to the large Decepticon that was slowly pacing over to her. If he blasted her now, the sparkling and its danniluk would be history.

She leapt to her pedes and ran away from the car, trying to divert its attention from it. But as soon as she had gone ten paces from it, she realized that the monster's attention was still on the car. She could hear the cries of the sparkling, and she very-well knew that the brute could hear it too. And she knew about the Decepticon's reputation with sparklings. They didn't care about them, and she figured it was because of how all of the known sparklings were being taught Autobot ways. They killed sparklings for fun.

She shook herself. She might grow to hate this planet, and she might grow to hate humans, but she'd rather kill herself than see a sparkling, of any species, be killed in anyway or by anybody.

Dormant maternal programming onlined and her optics suddenly changed their colour from red to white, showing that the programming had been onlined. The wheels on the bottom of her pedes returned to the original position right before she pounced.

Notestryder was an okay fighter to begin with, but once that programming took over, she went flat-out animalistic. It was that way for all femmes, and it had been since the Cybertronian race had been created. Femmes possessed that programming so that in the time when their sparklings were threatened, they would be able to protect them. Why this programming hadn't kicked in, for Notestryder, when her charges were still around was strange. Maybe it was because she knew they could get to safety?

The white femme tore into the brute, clinging to his front like a possessed cybermonkey as she tore his plated armor from his front and shoulders, all the while growling. It screamed as she bit down on its neck cables, and she grinned ferociously as Energon flowed between her denta.

Once she was done with that, she began to tear out the vital wires and cables she had exposed, and it caused the Decepticon's screams to increase. The programming wouldn't stop until the treat was terminated, though.

She grabbed at bundles of wire and tore them out with terrifying glee until she came across the Decepticon's spark chamber. _That's what will stop him, _a little voice told her. _Crush it! Feel it disintegrate in your servo! Crush it! Crush him! End his life, make him pay!_

But in a last ditch effort, the Decepticon grabbed her around the throat and pried her from him. And with shaky aim, he pointed a pistol at her helm. _Watch out!_ the little voice warned her. She closed her optics and turned her head to the side just as it fired. The shot didn't hit her head on, but it got her optics, destroying them instantly.

The programming shut down, and Notestryder regained herself. White-hot pain radiated from where her optics should have been, and it was all she could focus on as she felt the Decepticon drop to the ground, its injuries snuffing out his spark for her. She crashed into the ground also, having nothing to hold her up anymore, and she cried out as she landed on her back, right on her damaged struts, which were just stubs on her back.

She heard the femme, with the help of what could have been a fleshy mech, open the car's door. The sparkling's cries grew louder as it was probably lifted into its danniluk's arms. She could hear the danni's relieved weeping even as she sensed a fleshy walking up to her. It stopped next to her helm as she lay there weakly, and rested a fleshy servo on her cheekplate. She didn't have the energy to flinch away, since her protection programming as used most of it, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to anyway.

"Thank you," it said, sounding male and extremely grateful. "You saved our daughter."

Notestryder managed to crack a smile, though her faceplates were very sore. "S…sparklings…are precious…no matter _what_ species they…" she coughed "…they come from…"

She tried to take a deep breath, but it felt like her cooling systems, including the fans, had been severely damaged in the battle. The last Decepticon had been harder to take down than she thought. _I should have used my Energon whips,_ she thought with a grimace.

She felt the fleshy leave her, and she focused inward. She was hurt, hurt real bad. Her natural healing programs would not be able to fix this damage on their own. There was no medic around, and the Autobots were on the island in the middle of a large body of water. There was no way they were going to make it to her in time, if the young sparks were even able to convince them that she existed. Her spark would go out on its own, no matter how hard she'd try to will it to continue burning.

Were her brothers in the Well of AllSparks? If they weren't she'd be awfully lonely, but she'd be able to wait for them. After all, there were many other mechs and femmes she'd be able to spend time with. Like her danni and her opi, or the femmes and the sparklings that she had shared the Youth Sectors with. Yes, she would be alone, though she was a little disgruntled that she couldn't see this new world anymore.

Suddenly, the sound of a powerful engine, followed by two others, broke her out of her thoughts. She focused on them as they approached, and winced as she heard the sound of three distinct transformations. Were these friends or foes? She couldn't tell, she didn't have enough energy to power up her scanners. Would they leave her here to die?

Heavy footsteps, followed by two lighter sets of steps, approached her, and she lay there helplessly. She listened, focusing on only them.

The larger, heavier, more powerful sounding one, knelt down next to her. She wanted to tense, but was too weak. "Are you the femme known as Notestryder?" it asked, its voice deep and regal.

She slowly turned her voicebox on. "Y…yes…s-sir…" she managed to say.

"Are you the caretaker of the sparklings Wrangler, Clutch, and Code Red, and the youngling seeker known as Skybeat?" he asked.

This time, she could only manage a nod.

"We will be taking you with us once our medic has had a look at you," he told her before she heard him stand. There was a clank as he stepped back, before she sensed another approach. He was much smaller than the first.

She felt a scan wash over her as the one now next to her examined her. "Jazz, can you please go and pick up those two pieces of her armor? It seems they broke off in the fight…" a new voice said. It came from the bot beside her.

"On it," another voice said, coming from a little distance off.

The bot beside her sighed. "Her optics have been completely obliterated. I'll need to replace them when we get back to base. But if we don't hurry, she'll bleed dry before we even get close."

* * *

**SJSGirl:** It will definantly be an interesting reunion. I'll still trying to figure out how it will happen…

**TheGhost129:** Yep, Sunny!

**Golden Eagle 603:** Well, some people are very busy. Most really good writers are adults or teenagers in college, so they rarely have time to write. And it's getting like that for me too. It's get up, shower, eat breakfast, school, eat lunch, school, eat dinner, free time, bed for me. Though, I tend to dawdle sometimes…

I'm proud of my character, actually. I think she's the best I've created so far.

**KeepingThemAtBay:** Well, I was trying to fight off writers block, so I did a little action. Last time I did it (it was in another story), the whole chapter was dedicated to explosions. Yep, I can be ridiculous sometimes. Did you like the battle?

**zrexheartz:** :D


	5. Together Again

_**No Explosions**_**?! Where did I put the explosions?! There was a total lack of explosions in the battle last chapter! Where did they go?!**

**Random voice in background: There wasn't really anything to blow up in the park, ma'am.**

**Eh, whatever. At least one thing will have to explode in the next battle. We can't go around having **_**no explosions**_**.**

**This chapter came out so easily for me. And I really love it. I hope you love it too because it involved something you've all been waiting for. But why oh why was I thinking about Comox, BC while I was writing it? Maybe I was reminiscing in order to get the right effect.**

**Key:**

"Talking"

_Thinking_

"_Bumblebee's speech through radio"_

"**Cybertronian"**

**~Bond~**

* * *

5 – **Together Again** – 5

The two tall Autobots stared down at the four young sparks like they had come from a planet other than Cybertron. The one known as Skybeat had sat down with a datapad and begun to read while the sparklings known as Wrangler, Clutch, and Code Red were playing with the toys the Arcee triplets had managed to find after locking them away for a while.

The red one turned his helm to look at his golden counterpart. "These are the first sparklings I've seen in a long while, Sunny," he remarked.

The golden mech nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of a miracle, though, since we thought they had all been killed," he replied. As almost an afterthought, he added, "And don't call me that."

"You know I won't stop," the red mech smirked.

The one known as 'Sunny' shoved his twin with a snarl. "Okay! Okay! I'll stop!" 'Sunny's tormentor exclaimed.

Sunny shot him a glare. "Sideswipe, I should start calling you something ridiculous, as well, just to get back at you!"

Sideswipe's side-panel struts drooped and returned his brother's glare. All the while, the sparklings continued to play, innocent to the brewing argument above them. "Alright, you two, stop yelling at each other for pointless reasons," the Autobots' Weapon Specialist exclaimed as he walked into the room, followed by Arcee who had found some more toys for the young ones. She rolled over to the three little mechs and femme and set the toys down. She then rubbed each of their heads, one at a time, in comfort. They purred in response.

"Optimus Prime wants you two to go out on patrol for a joor," Ironhide informed the frontliners. "Try not to come back damaged or Ratchet will have your helms."

Sideswipe cheekily saluted while Sunstreaker merely rolled his optics before they quickly left the room. Once they were gone, Arcee straightened and turned to look at the black mech. "Now that they're gone; have you heard about the femme Prime brought back from the coast?" she asked.

"Indeed," Ironhide said grimly. "It seemed that she was involved in a one-on-five or so battle. She sustained heavy damage, but was the only survivor of the fight."

The red femme's optics widened. "You mean…_she_ killed all her opponents? How can someone, other than the twins, do _that_?"

"That's the thing," he said. "Despite the injuries marring her frame, she looks an awful lot like those two dim-wits."

* * *

Slowly, she onlined. Being the kind of femme that didn't want to be resting too long, she opened her optics. Instantly, she was blinded by a bright light filtering into the room she was in, and it hurt. She groaned and rolled onto her side, blinking rapidly, trying to straighten out her vision as it swirled and blurred, making everything around her look distorted. "Wh_oooa_!" she said before flopping back down onto her back. There was a chuckle, and it came from somewhere else in the room she was in, but everything was so confusing that she didn't scan to see if there was an enemy in the room.

"Here, let me adjust the calibration of your optics. They must have not onlined properly," a voice told her. She stilled.

She felt fingers press into the sides of her helm as she felt something press up against the front of her optics. By reflex, she wanted to blink, but she kept herself from doing that so the person who was fixing them could do their job.

The pressure disappeared and her vision suddenly cleared. She blinked a few times and a figure bending over her came into view. He was mint-green in colour and possessed a pair of blue optics. She relaxed; glad to know that she was with the right faction. "Wow…" she grinned. She looked the mech in the optics. "So what's the verdict?"

The mech straightened and helped her into a sitting position. "You were badly damaged," he told her. "But with the help of a regeneration pod, you are fully healed—your struts are even repaired."

"Thank you," she said quietly before she examined the room she was in. It seemed it was the med bay. "Sooo…where is this base of yours? The island of Diego Garcia?"

"We're actually on the mainland. Currently, we're in a large hanger on a farm in the human state of California," he replied.

"What's a state?"

"It's the human equivalent of a sector."

"Ah."

There was a small silence as the mech, who was a medic it seemed, looked her over. She wasn't sure if he was looking for any injuries he might have missed. "What is your designation?" she asked him suddenly, drawing his attention back to her faceplates.

He cleared his throat. "My designation is Ratchet, and I'm the Autobot's Chief Medical Officer."

She smiled. "I'm Notestryder," she told him.

"Yes, yes," he said. "I know that. You're lucky we managed to get you back here in time. You were very close to offlining."

Notestryder nodded and looked down. "It was a close call, I can say." She reached up and pressed a servo to the side of her helm. "You replaced my optics, thank you. I need to see in order to teach the young sparks. What colour are they?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Ratchet then handed her a Cybertronian-sized servo-held mirror.

She took it with a grateful smile and held it up so she could look at herself in the mirror. She looked at her optics and a grin spread across her faceplates. Twin rings of periwinkle blue shone back at her, and hope rose in her chest. No more red optics. She wouldn't be judged by their colour.

"Thank you, Ratchet; I appreciate that you replaced them. I like being able to see," she told him.

He took the mirror from her and set it off to the side. He crossed his arms and looked at her critically. "I can see that you are happy that you're able to see again, but I have to ask: is there another reason why you're happy to have new optics?"

She shrugged. "I grew up in Kaon and became a data-track jockey, so I had red optics." She paused. "I guess it would be good to tell you that the Autobots I came with are still on the ship, and are orbiting this planet's moon. Prowl's with them."

"Interesting. Optimus will be glad to have his second in command back."

"Yep." She sighed. "But can you promise me something, Ratchet?"

"What is it?" he asked gruffly.

"Can you please not tell anyone other than Optimus or Jazz that I had red optics? I know that red optics is a general indicator of who's a Decepticon, so I don't need any paranoid 'Bots thinking I'm a 'Con."

"I'll be able to," he said.

"Thanks."

"You're free to go now, so get out and go mingle with the others in the rec room. I've got two badly damaged patients returning from a mission and I do not like having a crowded med bay."

"Yes, sir," she said respectfully. She got up from the berth she had been sitting on and strode to the door. But then she froze. "Uh…where _is_ the rec room?"

Suddenly a map of the base appeared on her HUD, and the room that she guessed was the rec room was highlighted on it. "Thanks, Ratchet."

"You're welcome," she heard him say before she left the med bay.

She quickly traversed down the right halls until she came across the right room. She stopped outside it and looked inside, her heart singing happily. Ah, the social scene. She had grown to love it during the time she was a data-track jockey, but had grown a little reclusive when it was just her and the others in their little group of Autobots. But now there was just as many mechs and femmes in the rec room to make it feel like the good old days in the club in Helix.

Slowly, she stepped into the rec room and focused on what some of the bots were doing in order to try to make it across the room to where she could see the Cybertronian-sized couch. There wasn't as many bots as there would have been at the club, but the small groups of bots placed periodically around the room were loose and took up more room that need be.

She finally found a way to cross the room, and saw her chance when a tall, burly, black mech stepped forward during his conversation with a yellow and black mech. She darted forward and managed to cross behind him just before he stepped back again. She smiled and made her way over to the couch, where she sat down on it. There was a mech sitting on the couch too, and he was silver in colour. He turned his helm to look at her, and she saw that he was wearing a blue visor. "Goo' ta see ya up an' fine," he said to her.

Notestryder recognised his voice. "Hey, you're Jazz, right? You were there when they found me," she voiced.

He nodded. "Yeah. Ya weren' in too goo' of a shape when we foun' ya," he said. "But, Ah'm glad Ratchet was able ta put ya back togethuh."

She smiled and looked out at the mingling bots. "Indeed. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

Suddenly, there was a sharp pull on her spark, and she lurched forward with a gasp. Both servos flew to her chest as Jazz's mouth dropped open in shock. "'Stryduh? Are ya a'right?" he asked.

"I-I'm not sure," she said, trying to straighten her posture before the pull tugged again causing her torso to fall forward and onto her lap.

"Do ya think yah're wit spark?" the saboteur questioned.

"N-no…" she gasped.

"Did ya once have a bond wit someone? One tha' went dormant some time ago?"

She winced as the pull seemed to demand access to her spark. "I-I've got two _dead_ ones…"

"Scrap," the TiC swore. He got up and pulled the femme to her feet, and despite their obvious size difference (she was quite a bit taller than him), he swept her off of her pedes and dashed off towards the med bay, carrying her bridal style. "Outta the way!" he shouted to anyone in their path, including some of the flesh creatures that seemed to work at the base (and were obviously like the fleshlings she protected back at the park) "Little humans, we're cummin' _through_!"

They arrived in the med bay in time to witness an interesting sight. Jazz squared his jaw when he saw that one of the Autobot's two frontliners, the golden one known as Sunstreaker, had been driven wild by pain, and was chasing after Ratchet while the mech's twin, the other frontliner, Sideswipe, chased after him, trying to get him to quiet down. Notestryder watched with wide optics as Sunstreaker followed the mint green medic up and over a berth and around the laboratory equipment. The pull still clawed at her spark, demanding access.

Trying to distract herself from the terrifying sight, she looked inward at the dead bonds, and was surprised to see that the one belonging to her golden brother was trying to force its way open. She reached out and touched it. The bond suddenly blazed open and she couldn't help but let out a gasp. The presence from the other side of the bond enveloped hers in some sort of a hug.

Jazz set her down on her pedes, noticing that she seemed to be in less pain now. He pushed her behind him, though, ready to protect her.

And that's when the golden Autobot suddenly stopped and looked straight at her. She gasped when she saw the feral look on his faceplates. He slowly walked towards her, and Jazz let out a warning growl. He paid no heed, and continued to approach, only looking at her. She looked straight into his optics and saw a spark of recognition in them. But she didn't know who he was because of the look on his face.

The silver saboteur charged forward, knowing it was one of his duties to stop this mech before he hurt someone, but as soon as he came into contact with him, the mech threw him off and pounced on Notestryder. She gave out a shriek of alarm as she was sent crashing to the floor with the mech on top of her.

"Sunny!" the red frontliner cried out.

"Sunstreaker!" Ratchet bellowed.

"Notestryder!" Jazz exclaimed.

The white femme blinked a few times as her processor seemed to rattle around in her helm. But once it seemed like it had settled she looked up into the mech's face, even as processed Energon dripped from between his denta and down onto her faceplates. She knew she had to handle this carefully. He had the power over her. He knew it. She knew it. Mechs reduced to their bare programming before being left in the wild alone showed symptoms of acting like a "pack leader", and all femmes and lesser mechs were to bend to their whim.

But mechs driven to this behavior just needed a knock to the helm, though it seemed that Ratchet had already tried that. There was a wrench-shaped dent in the mech's golden helm.

He growled, and she felt a sense of confusion flow over the bond. _He's wondering why I'm not responding—if I'm sharing the bond I now have with him,_ she thought.

She brought up her right servo and narrowed her optics. With a growl of her own she slapped him across the faceplates twice before punching him harshly in the left cheek. He reeled back, seeming to gain back his senses. He blinked rapidly before vigorously rubbing his faceplates with both servos. The black and yellow fins on either side of his faceplates twitched as he regained control of his frame. But then he looked down at her. He blinked several times more. "Did I just try to maul her faceplates off?" he asked, a horrified look crossing his own faceplates.

"No…it was more like you were trying to assert your dominance over her," Ratchet explained dryly.

"But she got you good, bro! She slapped sense right back into your noggin," the red mech chuckled.

The golden mech looked down at her and saw her staring at him a neutral expression before tears welled up in her optics. She sat up and wrapped her arms around his chest, quickly burying her faceplates into his chestplates. "Oh, _Sunstreaker_! I thought I lost you!" she wailed, her voice slightly muffled.

"Note'?" the red mech voiced incredulously. He knelt down beside the two as Sunstreaker's optics seemed to bulge. Her struts, which were identical to the ones sticking out of their own backs, shivered with every sob. She clung to the golden one's chestplates as if everything else was about to fall apart. He touched her shoulder, and she turned her helm slightly to look at him out of one optic. Once she saw him, she reached out to him with one servo.

He took it, and felt something tug at his spark desperately. He examined it, and felt the sister bond he once had with his sister light up. He prodded it and it seemed to explode, engulfing him with feelings of love, longing, and relief. **~I'm so glad we're finally back together again,~** he heard her say through the bond as it quickly became as strong as it had been when they had been on their own before the war.

**~Sideswipe,~** she said.

**~Notestryder,~** Sunstreaker added.

**~And Sunstreaker,~** Sideswipe finalised as their processors seemed to connect and run in sync for the first time in vorns.

"It's like they're triplets," Jazz said, his accent disappearing in his shock. "Are they mates or are they siblings?"

"Siblings."

"Ah."

"From what I've heard," Ratchet said, "is that after the twins' creators died, they were left to fend for themselves and their sister. They became close, and always relied on knowing each other's thoughts in order to survive. The twins took it hard when they had to seperate, and I think it affected the femme the same way. These three are truly unique."

* * *

**TheGhost129:** Yep, they're here.

**SJSGirl:** Yeah. Femmes can be quite terrifying when they go into that "protect sparkling" mode. I actually suprised myself by the way I described her actions O_O

**Golden Eagle 603:** Lots of things to look forward to, and I hope I don't forget about any of them! I tend to do that sometimes when the story ends up shooting off into another direction XD I won't do it this time!

**KeepingThemAtBay:** Thanks! Yeah, I totally forgot that I was going to add explosions to the fight, but I guess there were _some_, but they were just not mentioned.

**zrexheartz:** They're here!

**VioletDawn00: **Glad you're hooked! There's a lot to look forward to, and a lot for me to play with :D


End file.
